


Sorting Hat (Ben Solo)

by OptimisticBeth



Series: Sorted [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Gen, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14084541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OptimisticBeth/pseuds/OptimisticBeth
Summary: Young Ben Solo's thoughts and worries as he waits to be sorted.





	Sorting Hat (Ben Solo)

Ben held himself straight and tall – or as tall as his eleven-year-old body would allow – as the other First Years quivered and shook and bit their nails around him, waiting their turn to be sorted.

A brown-haired boy with an infectious smile was pronounced “GRYFFINDOR!” the moment the Hat touched his head. He swaggered toward his new House table, cheers and whistles accompanying him.

Damocles next, then Delaney, placed in Slytherin and Hufflepuff respectively.

Ben wouldn’t be sorted until almost the end, among the S’s. He wasn’t sure which House he wanted. His family had history in all them – except Hufflepuff, but no one who  _mattered_  ever went through Hufflepuff.

His mother, uncle, and grandfather had all been Gryffindor, and he had the impression that his grandmother had been Ravenclaw, though no one ever spoke of her in anything more than whispers.

His father had been Slytherin, which definitely made it less appealing. Han had been expelled, though, so did that even count?

Ben felt his lips compress into a tight line at the thought of his father. He took a moment to control his expression, to bring it back to impassivity, but a fresh burst of noise from the Gryffindor table had him flicking his gaze that way in annoyance. They pounded their fists on the wood as another First Year joined them.

Ben suddenly did  _not_  want to join Gryffindor.

Maybe Ravenclaw, he thought, liking the poised way they accepted a girl with yellow braids. A ghost stood on the Ravenclaw table, its gamine smile half hidden among hundreds of wrinkles. Wide pointed ears stood out from its head, and Ben brought a hand up self-consciously to check the long curls over his own ears.

Still in place, he found, and relief pooled inside him. He’d spent the entire boat ride trying to keep the breeze from exposing his most embarrassing feature. It had left him irritable and recalcitrant as his boatmates gasped in awe at the beautiful castle and chattered to each other with nervous excitement.

He would  _not_  begin his year as the butt of a joke. He had a legacy to protect, family traditions to uphold.

Just then, a boy walked to the Slytherin table, and they received him with dignified applause and polite handshakes.

Okay, so maybe Slytherin wouldn’t be the worst, he decided, mentally sighing at himself for the continued vacillation.

He heard his name, then, and rubbed his thumbs over his fingertips, the only outward sign he allowed himself for the nerves churning his stomach.

The Sorting  _mattered_ , and Ben needed to be in the right House more than anyone else at Hogwarts. He had royal blood running in his veins, blood enhanced by potent magic,  _Skywalker_  magic. He had to live up to his heritage and erase the stains of dishonor his scoundrel father had left when he’d given Ben his genes and his name.

Ben walked forward with careful deliberation, attempting to radiate the dignity his mother channeled so effortlessly, and sat for the most important moment of his life.

The Sorting Hat took its time with him, making him nervous, but it was not the longest deliberation of the evening, or even the second longest, by the time the Hat proclaimed, “Slytherin!”

Steady hands removed the Sorting Hat from his head, and Ben stood in a daze. He didn’t know whether to be pleased or disgruntled at the decision, so he chose to feel nothing as he made his way toward the correct table.

Several students rose to greet him, and he shook their proffered hands with automatic courtesy. It was  _relief_ , however, which swamped him when he took an empty seat and found himself left, blessedly, alone.

**Author's Note:**

> As a Hufflepuff, I do not condone Ben Solo’s dismissive thoughts toward the best House ever. Hufflepuff House has sleepovers and s’mores and confidantes and kittens.
> 
> When the Sorting Hat sorted Harry Potter:
> 
> _**Sorting Hat:** “Hmm. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting… So where shall I put you?”_   
>  _**Harry Potter:** “Not Slytherin, not Slytherin.”_   
>  _**Sorting Hat:** “Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that — no? Well, if you’re sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!”_
> 
> ^ I challenge anyone to read that and tell me that your House limits who you are or who you can grow to be. (But no, please don’t, Hufflepuffs hate conflict.)
> 
> If you liked this and want to see more SW/HP crossover, please let me know. Be warned, however, that it would be full Alternate Universe – I’d mess with both SW storylines _and_ HP canon in order to cobble a weird hybrid monster out of both.
> 
> (Yes, the Ravenclaw ghost is Yoda.)
> 
> (Yes, the boy with the infectious smile was Poe.)


End file.
